=The Forests.=—When the first European settlers came to America, the colonists depended heavily upon the forests. From the woods they obtained timber for their houses and barns, wood for fuel and, by hunting, a considerable part of their food supply. In all stages of civilization men have depended upon the forests to satisfy many of their diversified wants. Nowadays steel has taken the place of timber in the construction of buildings and ships; coal and oil have largely replaced wood as fuel; the days when men subsisted by hunting are past; and mankind is no longer so heavily dependent upon the forests as in the olden days. Yet the forests of America are still a great source of wealth even though the timber resources have been heavily drawn upon during the past hundred years. This is one of the natural resources which has been wastefully used and it is only in recent years that attention has been given to conserving what is left of it. The forests are needed, not only as a source of timber supply, but in order to preserve the fertility of the soil and to retain in it the moisture which is otherwise evaporated or run off. [Sidenote: The earlier practice.] =The Conservation of Timber.=—In the days when so much of the land was covered with timber the chief concern was to get it out of the way so that the ground could be used for agriculture. No one seemed to realize that the day would ever come when forest land would be more valuable than corn land. Before 1878 the national government sold off many million acres of valuable forest land at low prices to individuals and corporations and they, in turn, used it in whatever ways would yield the largest profit to themselves. [Sidenote: The Timber and Stone Act, 1878.] By the Timber and Stone Act of 1878, however, it was provided that only a limited area of government land containing timber or stone could be sold to any one person or corporation and then only at a higher price than agricultural land. But even this did not prove a sufficient measure of waste-prevention, and in 1891 Congress adopted the policy of withdrawing large areas of government forest land from the market altogether. [Sidenote: Forest reserves.] These tracts were set aside as national forest reservations and today there are about one hundred and fifty million acres set apart to ensure the country’s future supply of timber. The national government is also permitted to buy from private owners forest lands in the watersheds of navigable streams in order to protect the natural flow in such waterways. The administration of all the forest reservations is in the hands of the United States Forest Service, which forms part of the Department of Agriculture. [Sidenote: Forest policy of the states.]